BERKELEY — The city is looking for volunteer docents to help kids explore the outdoors.

The docents work at the Berkeley waterfront helping kids investigate beaches, ride boats on the Bay, look under rocks for crabs, or watch birds from the shore, according to a press release from the city.

“Some docents find new careers in teaching environmental education. Some retirees find a community of friends and the opportunity to do something they enjoy,” the release says. “All you need are the desire to teach and a love for kids and the outdoors.”

Docents take Bay Interpretive Training (BayIT) to learn how to teach the ecology of the San Francisco Bay to adults as well as children. Environmental education programs include low tide walks, as well as research, sailing, summer marine biology, and boating. The programs have taught more than 127,000 children and adults over the last 30 years, according to the city.

Topics covered during training sessions include:

Quacks, Quakes and Conquistadors.

The Bay today.

How to have fun teaching children creatively.

Fins, Scales and Gills.

Feathered Friends.

Seashore Secrets.

Animals with no Eyeballs.

Training sessions are from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays at Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave. at the Berkeley Marina. More information is available at www.cityofberkeley.info/naturecenter or by emailing naturecenter@cityofberkeley.info or calling 510-981-6720.

The program is run by the city Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department. More information is available in the Activity Guide of the department’s Recreation Division. Registration can be done through the division’s online registration portal.

With lower home prices, more Californians could afford a home purchase in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the previous quarter, but the California Association of Realtors reports higher interest rates lowered affordability from the previous year for most counties.